The White Fang
by Terra Alchemist
Summary: Kakashi's having love problems and Sakura and Naruto are determined to get their Sensei and his love interest together, permanently. Will Kakashi get the girl, or will Naruto and Sakura screw it all up? Slightly AU, KakashiXOC
1. WHAT? No SHIRTS?

**The White Fang**

"Obito... you sacrificed your life for me, me, the guy who always used to push you around, call you a crybaby... you sacrificed your entire life for me, the future you might have had with Rin, all the missions you could have had, and you gave it all up.

"For me.

"But why? Was I really worth it all Obito? Really, deep down inside, was I worth everything that you lost? Even if I'm not, I'm still trying my hardest, I really am... and I still remember... it doesn't matter if I'm called 'trash', my companions are worth more... than anything in the world. Anything.

"Right, Obito?

"Rin... she's long since gone her seperate way... I hope she's alright, but I have other things to do now, another set of comrades, my own students, I suppose. But now... now there's someone different, and I hope you won't be angry but... well, you probably knew already anyway.

"Speak of the devil, here she is now. I guess I'll talk to you later, Obito."

* * *

Kakashi turned his head slowly, not quite completely out of his somber mood, this feeling he always got when he was visiting the memorial of heroes and reading Obito's name over and over again. Obito Uchiha, Obito Uchiha, Obito Uchiha, reading it so many times that if sight were abrasive Obito's name would be rubbed off of it, which was another reason Kakashi was glad eyes weren't abrasive. His good eye, his right, widened just a bit, then sank back into its usual laziness and he felt a flutter in his heart, just a small one, and a lump rise in his throat that wasn't so small. 

"Ah... Ketari... um... you're looking... nice... today," he said, rather lamely, and he inwardly kicked himself. Nice? What the heck was he thinking? She smiled at him and blushed a little, little pink spots coloring her cheeks, and Kakashi felt heat rise to his face. _Come on, come on, say something... anything! Anything that's not stupid... _"So... what are you doing here?"

"Visiting Obito... same as usual, Kakashi. Like you. You come every day, don't you?" She asked, crossing over to stand next to him and kneeling down to lay flowers in front of the memorial. Daffodils and sakura... Obito's favorites. Kakashi fiddled with his headband nervously. "Ketari... how've you been?"

"I've been okay... I guess," she murmured, and her blue eyes seemed to glisten for a moment, but then they were clear again. So quickly was the change that Kakashi started to doubt if it had happened in the first place. She ran her hands through her long dark hair, still looking at the memorial. "It's been hard without Obito... and... well... I'm getting better at medicinal jutsu, that's for sure... maybe I could help you one day, Kakashi, when I get better."

"Sure... that would be... great!" Kakashi felt his resolve beginning to weaken as more heat sped to his face, and he hoped his face was covered enough that she wouldn't notice. "Ketari... are you busy, say... tomorrow?" She looked up at him innocently.

"I don't think so... why?"

"Uhm... I was wondering if maybe you'd-"

* * *

At this point, Naruto fell onto Sakura's head. Inner Sakura cursed loudly and Sakura whacked Naruto over his head. 

"Good job, Naruto, I just missed what Kakashi-Sensei was about to say!"

"Awww... we could just tail him, Sakura! What did you hear him say?" Naruto asked through a mouthful of cup-ramen.

"I heard him ask her if she was busy tomorrow and she said no!"

"So we'll just tail Kakashi-Sensei tomorrow, shouldn't be too hard!" He said, swallowing his mouthful.

Sakura had a brain wave and grabbed Naruto's hand. "Quick! We'd better get back to our meeting-place before he does!" Naruto nodded and bounced after her, still wondering how he'd been convinced to spy on Kakashi-Sensei... oh! He remembered. He had been wanting to play a prank on Sensei anyway, and Sakura had given him _that look. _He couldn't resist.

* * *

Sakura's hurrying was in vain, however, because Kakashi still didn't turn up for another hour. 

When he did he was definitely humming and taking his time, a dreamy faraway look in his eye and his hands absent of the dreaded book, "Make Out Paradise". All in all, he was acting very strangely. As the day progressed, it turned out that he couldn't concentrate enough to block Sasuke, or even Naruto's attacks, and he didn't correct Naruto's incorrect verbalization of the ninja codes.

He checked the sun and his humming increased a bit in pitch, then he looked back at the very frustrated Sasuke, the confused Sakura, and the totally oblivious Naruto, and winked his good eye. "Alright, you guys did good enough, now go home!" He hopped up into the branches of a tree and when he was a little further away, burst into random song. Sakura sidled over to Naruto.

"There's definitely something going on here, we _have _find out what!"

"Yeah, well it can wait until tomorrow can't it? I want some more ramen! Lots of it!"

Sasuke said nothing and went away. Party-pooper.

* * *

Kakashi stood in front of his closet, chin in his hand, legs spread apart, shoulders back, head tilted, wondering what on earth he would wear. _Let's see. Jounin vest... no. Jounin vest... no. Jounin vest... no! Dammit, is this all I wear? Anbu outfit... different, but no. Another Jounin vest! _A nerve stood out in his temple and he tossed all his Jounin vests aside. _I have to have more to wear than that! _He checked his pants. _Green... no. Green... no. Black... no. Black... no. Green and black... no! Ah! A blue! I actually have a blue! And is that a white over there? Yes, it is! _He held up the white pants for inspection, then threw them in a basket. _Pee yew, needs washing. Who knows when the last time that thing was washed... _The blue pants looked good enough, so he tossed them onto his bed.

Back to the problem of his tops... there was nothing except a sole Anbu outfit, the rest were Jonin vests and thick black shirts. He didn't want to go outside with Ketari in his regular uniform! He needed something different... he was even contemplating taking off his headband and his mouth covering for that special day, but he hadn't decided yet. He needed a shirt!

Now where to get one... he'd just have to search around the village.


	2. Stone Ninja Phobia

**The White Fang**

"Iruka!" Kakashi banged on Iruka's door harder, unwilling to be kept waiting. "Iruka! Hurry and answer your door already! Hurry!"

"Yeah yeah, just a second..." Iruka mumbled from inside, still struggling through the next day's lesson plan. What would he teach the Academy students tomorrow? It had to be something interesting or Konohamaru would skip out again. Maybe something about the 4th Hokage again; that seemed to keep his attention for long enou-

"I-RU-KA! ANSWER YOUR DOOR OR I'LL BLOW IT DOWN!"

"Not by the hairs on my chinny chin chin," Iruka muttered sarcastically, scratching out basic plans he had made in pen and marking rather heavily through one that Naruto had scribbled on that read 'toss self in lake'. That Naruto sure was a piece of wo-

Something behind his front door flashed and the door in question groaned and seemed to leap to the side, then splinter into pieces and scatter on the ground revealing a very irritated Kakashi. Iruka blinked twice, very slowly. Verrrrrrrrrry sloooooooowly. He couldn't even finish his own thoughts around here... sheesh. He put down the pen and paper. "I was going to answer it, you know?"

"When? Next winter?" Kakashi seethed, uncharacteristically pissed. In fact, he was being uncharacteristically over-emotional, Iruka noted. He put his fists on his hips and frowned.

"Well now that you're in... anything in particular you wanted?"

"Shirt."

"Excuse me?" Iruka asked, not quite hearing the word 'shirt', but 'shirt' minus the 'r'.

"I need a shirt!"

"Oh I thought you need to take a-"

"Iruka! I really-need-a-shirt."

"You have plenty... You have about fifty Jounin vests and shirts to go with them..."

"I need something I can wear outside! Normal clothes!"

"It would figure you don't have any of those."

"Just shut up and loan me a shirt!"

"Why not buy one?"

"Becaaaaause!" Kakashi moaned, gesturing outside. "It's pitch black out there, and when it's pitch black there aren't any shops open. I need a shirt by tomorrow morning! And you know what tomorrow isssss, don't you?"

"OH YEAH! It's festival day, isn't it? Guess I don't need to bother with lessons then. So, Kakashi," Iruka said slyly. "What's the occasion, eh?"

"Nothing."

"You don't go banging on another Jounin's door asking for a shirt at midnight for nothing. C'mon Kakashi, spill it!"

"No."

"Tell me or you're not gettin' a shirt from me. I suppose you could run over to Gai's house... buuuuut... well, it's a long run, isn't it, and Gai would never let you live it down," Iruka said examining his fingernails.

"Gah! Fine! You promise you'll let me loan one?"

"If you tell me what's up, then I promise."

"Okay, I promise. Now, you know Ketari right? Medicinal ninja, lives a bit away from here?"

"Oh yeah, Ketari, man she's a looker, phew. I'd like to get married to _her._"

Kakashi ignored the last comment. "Yes well, I asked her if she wanted to go to the festival with me and she said okay, and we're going in the morning, right before dawn, so I need a shirt! I don't want to go looking like a Jounin on duty!"

"I was always wondering when you'd ask her on a date... I mean, the way you moon after her! All the Jounin are placing bets whether she'll be the one on top or you- but of course I'm not taking part in any bet like that!" Iruka said quickly as Kakashi's nerves twitched again. "Between you and me, Kakashi, the other Jounin were wondering whether you uh... fly straight or not, if you know whatI mean.You haven't shown the slightest interest in women ever since you became a Jounin, or even before that when we were Chuunin and Genin!"

"And what do you think?"

"Well, anyone that reads "Make Out Paradise" has to fly straight."

"Good, you're on my side then."

"Well... your side has an awfully small number... oh, here's your shirt." Iruka held out a plain white short sleeved shirt. "Is that good enough?"

"It's perfect," Kakashi said, starting to head out the door. He stopped in the doorway and looked down at the smashed door, embarrassed, then turned back to Iruka. "Sorry about the door... oh and, promise me you won't say anything to anyone about me and Ketari, okay? It's just a first date."

"Kakashi, your side is dwindling."

"I don't care! I just want this to be private."

"Alright alright, I'll keep quiet."

"Even from Naruto."

"Especially from Naruto."

Satisfied, Kakashi ran back home with his newly acquired shirt, took off his clothes, and went to bed. He squirmed in his bed for a little while, tossing and turning, putting the pillow over his head, squeezing his eyes shut, listening to the random animals outside, but none of it helped ease his excitement.

_At 5:30 I'm going to the festival with Ketari! Ketari! Yes! I guess this means I should get rid of my "Make Out Paradise" book. I won't need it if... if... _He squirmed excitedly again, then reprimanded himself. He was being childish. He lay still on the bed, his face pressed against the pillow. So many years of longing and loneliness... time to put it all to an end! At least, he hoped so.

* * *

In three hours time Kakashi was up and ready again, brushing his teeth, combing his hair, washing himself, and eating breakfast. He put his leaf headband on his dresser with half a mind to pick it back up again. Would Ketari mind if his Sharingan eye was exposed? He looked at his face covering and almost laughed to himself. What would Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura think if they saw him without that? Oh boy, he couldn't wait. Was he forgetting anything? 

Oh! He almost forgot!He ran back to his bedstand and opened his drawer, gently moving aside the picture of Yondaime, Obito, Rin, and himself and moving past the newer picture of himself, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. There it was! The box! He picked it up and pocketed it, then plucked up his leaf headband as well and stuffed it into his other pocket, just in case.

* * *

He watched her from a distance at first and sighed as she stood there waiting for him near the entrance to the festival grounds. She looked so beautiful... and she was quiet and shy and just... beautiful! She was wearing plain clothes as well, but they were a bit nicer than usual: a white cloth dress adorned with the symbol of Konohagakure on the stomach in green. Her long black hair was tied back with a blue red ribbon and she saw him and waved, shyly at first, but then with a little more confidence. 

He smiled and took her arm, leading her down to the grounds. She looked up at him with her blue eyes and smiled as well, little patches of pink spotting her cheeks again. "You look nice, Kakashi," she said. The Sharingan didn't seem to bother her, which was good, as he held her gaze. He grinned. "You look beautiful, Ketari. Even more beautiful than always..."

Naruto and Konohamaru gagged on their cup ramen and ducked behind a corner, crouched with their knees close to their chests.

"Hey Naruto... wasn't that your sensei?" Konohamaru asked, fiddling with his cup and looking up at Naruto. Naruto's eyes were closed, his mouth turned down into a frown.

"No way! That couldn't be Kakashi-Sensei! He looks completely different, plus, Sensei reads so much "Make Out Paradise" that he'd be able to come up with a way more romantic line than that, believe it!" Konohamaru nodded; that made sense.

"Okay. Let's go get some paint cans and spray em on Grandpa!"

"YEAH!" Naruto yelled, bolting up and running towards the carnival. He knew just where to get paintcans.

* * *

Ketari and Kakashi were having a fine time at the carnival, remarking to each other about all the ninjas from distant lands who had gathered, pointing out rides, games, and contests, stopping to smell food smells wafting out of resteraunts and looking into the windows of various stores, and holding hands all the while. He was nearly giddy with excitement. They stopped outside of one of the more spooky attractions, and Kakashi looked at her. "Want to give it a try?" 

She hesitated for a moment and nodded, her hand still clasped in his, and they slipped inside. Unfortunately, Sakura Haruno was right behind them, or at least, she was watching through the window. She despised 'spooky attractions'.

The inside was dark and dank and smelled slightly of mildew, and even of blood. Cobwebs hung in the most inconveniant places, patches of red were smeared across the walls, windows were broken, chairs and tables torn limb from limb and scattered around, and random dead animals dotted the floor. Kakashi thought it was all rather well done, this scary set-up, but he wasn't scared too much. Ketari, however, had tightened her grip on his hand and held his arm with both hands. He looked down at her when she squeezed and gave her a reassuring smile. "It's okay, Ketari, it's not real. Nobody's going to attack us or anything like that."

"But Kakashi!"

"If anyone does, I'll protect you, so don't worry. Do you... want to go back?"

She thought for a moment, but shook her head. She wanted Kakashi to have some fun, he seemed to like this haunted attraction, and... she didn't want to run away. A little farther inwards and the scene had moved from dead animals to very well made dead people dolls, with random blood stained stones littered on the floor and various... body parts... He checked Ketari to make sure she wasn't getting too frightened, but she seemed calm, so he guessed it was safe to continue. The blood odor intensified and he felt something different in the air, something a bit more sinister than dead animals. He stopped in his tracks and Ketari stopped as well, her brows furrowed, and she let go of his arm. She felt it too. A shadow darted from one of the rocks and rocketed over to Ketari and she stood frozen in her spot as the shinobi advanced on her. Her eyes didn't see the face, the uniform, or the eyes. Just the headband. He was a Stone Ninja, and she screamed. Kakashi bolted forward and seized her, lifting her to safety and away from the Stone Ninja, and she clung to him, her arms around his neck.

Sakura saw a bright flash from inside and the next thing she knew, the Stone Ninja was flying towards the window she had been looking in! He crashed through the window and Sakura ducked just in time to avoid collision. The man was knocked out, his mouth open and gurgling, and Sakura saw a tag underneath his charred vest. He had just been an extra for the attraction.

Kakashi, meanwhile, was out of the attraction and on his knees, hugging Ketari and trying to console her, but it was having very little effect. In a better light, however, she had stopped crying hysterically into his chest. He stood up again and hugged her again, somewhat awkwardly, and reached a hand up, shaking, to wipe away her tears. _Ohhhh... I hope she doesn't hit me... is this too soon, or, or, what should I be doing? Should I talk to her, or should I leave her alone, or try to cheer her up, or maybe I should... take her away from here? That should be a good idea..._

Before he could make a decision, she broke away from him leaving Kakashi very much alone. He looked at the Stone Ninja on the ground and started as it vanished in a puff of smoke to reveal a stunned Naruto supervised by Sakura. Kakashi stared at them for a minute, anger rising inside of him, and Sakura shivered under his gaze, but he quelled the anger, threw them both a disappointed and let down look, and went off in search of Ketari.

_Naruto and Sakura... why? Why did you...? _"Ketari! Ketari, where are you? Ketari!" It had been looking like such a wonderful day, too... the festival, the morning had started out with such promise, and now... now his students had ruined it all! He nudged a stone on the ground with his toe, not wanting to kick it, and looked around again. A bridge... and it was starting to rain too... and he couldn't find Ketari. He sat under the bridge, away from the rain, and drew his knees up to his chest. Now what would he do? He couldn't find Ketari, his whole day was ruined. The rain hit down harder around him, splashing into the water, smacking into the dirt, and bouncing off the stone of the bridge.

Kakashi, the Copy Ninja, Jounin, son of The White Fang of Konoha, and Sensei of Cell 7 couldn't keep a date for a day if his life depended on it, not even with the one person he cared about. Sometimes he felt like he couldn't do anything. He got up and trudged back in the rain, his shoes filling with mud, his clothes getting wet (he hoped Iruka wouldn't mind a wet shirt), his hair in his eyes... He tried to smooth it back out of his line of vision but it was determined to flop in front of him regardless. Great, he couldn't even do that.

_That's it, today officially sucked a-_

His thoughts were interrupted as he saw someone coming out of the Heroes Memorial area and he stopped, still soaking wet. He couldn't see properly but he did see a slim white dress huddled under an overhang staring at the rain. He increased his pace to the overhang. Maybe today wasn't so bad after all... "Ketari!"

She looked up and her mouth twitched, but she didn't laugh. He was, after all, getting muddy, wet, and very lonely for her sake. Her eyes looked sad and she stared down at his muddy shoes. He sat down next to her, put his elbows on his knees, and rested his chin in his hands. "Guess we're stuck here, huh? At least until the rain lets up a little."

* * *

Wow, three reviews on the first day! Cool! This is actually my first time doing Naruto fanfiction, since all my other fanfics are for Fullmetal Alchemist, but I liked Kakashi and I wanted to do a fic about him, so here it is!I hope you'll continue to review, and thanks a lot for the ones so far! 

-T A


	3. Frenches and Road Trips

**The White Fang**

"You came all the way in the rain to find me? I thought you hated rain."

Kakashi sighed and shrugged, trying once more, futilely, to keep his hair out of his eyes. He kept motioning to push the headband farther up onto his head before realizing it wasn't there anymore, and it was beginning to irritate him. He reached into his pocket to grab it and put it on, but he felt it and his fingers cringed. It was sopping wet, he couldn't put it on!

"I don't really hate it, but it does get in the way when I try to use something powerful like Raimei."

"Because it's lightning based and water conducts it?"

"Precisely," Kakashi said, trying one last time to push back his hair. Ketari seemed to giggle for a second, but she stifled it quickly and reached up to her hair and unwound the ribbon. He hadn't noticed that she'd stopped and was surprised when she reached up and tied her ribbon around his forehead. She smiled again. "There, now your hair won't get on your face." She walked around to the front of him and just seemed to notice the rain falling on them.

"It looked so nice this morning too... maybe we should go inside somewhere..."

Kakashi nodded. "But where? I know the ramen place is close, but could we not go there? I might get ambushed by some of my students."

"Then how about the bar right next to it? I don't think there will be any kids in there."

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

Kakashi felt his clothes start to dry off the second they entered the bar and Ketari tried the best she could to squeeze the water out of her hair. He picked a table close to the fire near the back of the bar and crossed his forearms on the tabletop. She sat down opposite of him and her gaze seemed to be focused on his left eye, his Sharingan eye. 

"You knew Obito... didn't you, Kakashi?"

Kakashi squeezed water out of his leaf headband and put it on the table to dry, then fiddled with his left eye. "Yes, yes I did... you knew him as well, didn't you? The way you go to his grave almost every day, you must have."

"I was... engaged to him."

Kakashi froze in his fiddling and thoughts jumbled in his head. _What? She was engaged to Obito? But... but he liked Rin! Does she still like Obito, even though he's dead, or, or... _

"Our parents arranged our marriage, but... it didn't work out. You know that. Since... since he died..."

_" 'It's been hard without Obito...' " _

_" 'I was... engaged to him.' "_

_She still likes Obito! Maybe..._

_"Yondaime-Sensei! Yondaime-Sensei!" Kakashi ran up to Yondaime, his jaw clenched, his eyes trying to hold back tears. Yondaime turned and looked down at him sympathetically, and he kneeled down and put his hands on Kakashi's small shoulders. "What is it, Kakashi?"_

_"Ketari likes Obito! She said so!" Yondaime cocked his head, his blue eyes puzzled. _

_"Shouldn't you be happy for Obito then, Kakashi? What's wrong?"_

_"B-but..." Kakashi hesitated, then burst out, "I like Ketari too! It's not fair!"_

_"Why isn't it fair?"_

_"Because! Obito likes Rin, and Rin likes Obito, and I like Ketari, but Ketari doesn't like me; she likes Obito!"_

_"Well..." Yondaime sighed. "You just have to give things like this time. You never know, maybe she'll like you someday."_

_"Someday, Yondaime-Sensei? How long is someday?"_

_"As long as it takes, Kakashi, as long as it takes. And maybe in that time you'll like someone else, and they'll turn out to be the person you truly love. Then maybe one day Kakashi Hatake will be a daddy, hmm?"_

_"I don't know... I think..." He scrubbed his eyes with his sleeve and looked up at Yondaime. "I think I'll like Ketari forever!"_

_Yondaime smiled and patted his head. "Who knows? That might just be."_

_"But... I don't think I'll ever be as old as you, Yondaime-Sensei, that seems to take an awfully long time!"_

_"Oh, it goes by much faster than it seems like, trust me."_

_"...You promise you won't tell Obito, Sensei?"_

_"If you don't want me to, I promise," Yondaime said, putting his hand over his heart. Kakashi nodded and grinned up at him. _

_"You're the best, Yondaime-Sensei!"_

* * *

"Kakashi...?" 

Kakashi shook his head and looked at her. "Oh, sorry... I just got lost in my head. Sorry."

"It's okay... what were you thinking about?"

"What was I thinking about...?I was thinking about... Yondaime-Sensei, that's all. And Obito."

"Oh. But you know... the best thing to do is move on." He looked up at her and her eyes locked with his.

"That may be... but you shouldn't ever-"

"Forget them, I know... Never forget... but sometimes... other things, other people, they become... more importa-"

* * *

Sakura, Naruto, and Konohamaru gasped. Sakura squealed and pointed to them through the window of the bar. 

"D-d-d-do you see that? T-t-they're..."

"SMOOCHING! Eeeeyeeeew!" Naruto cried, scrambling away from the window. Konohamaru jumped up and down and glared at Naruto. "See, I told you Naruto, it _was _your Sensei!"

Sakura risked another pick and shot her face downwards again, blushing furiously. "They're still not done! I think they're-" She poked her head up again and pulled back down. "They're frenching! Gaaagh..." she blanched and Naruto fisted the air.

"Woohoo, go Sensei!" Naruto cried as he covered Konohamaru's eyes. "And you're too little to see stuff like this, Konohamaru!"

"Nu-uh! I am not!" Konohamaru shouted, swinging his arms around. "No fair!"

* * *

After they were finished, Kakashi could only daydream about her.

Which was pretty much all he did the week afterwards.

The weekend came and he trotted off to Ketari's house on the other side of town, requesting to borrow another shirt from Iruka until he could find some good ones from a store and filling him in on the latest happenings with Ketari. Kakashi didn't go into too much detail, just basic information, and Iruka coached him.

"Now don't forget! Don't come onto her too quickly or she might freak out and run, but don't go too slowly either or she'll get tired of waiting for you to kiss her. What you should do is just wait for her to come say, halfway, and then go from there, got it?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"Then go for it! Knock her out, man!" Kakashi left Iruka's house feeling energized; he was a good teacher after all! Weekends soon became the best part of his week, even more entertaining for him than watching Naruto screw up and see Sasuke taunt him, or seeing Sakura moon over Sasuke. He could understand and empathize with Sakura now! He just wished Sasuke wouldn't be so blind to not see her, he wished. His weekends were laid back and restful, usually spending hours with Ketari, from morning to late at night, though every night was laying on his back and staring up at the stars, listening to Ketari point out certain ones and tell him what they meant, how they somehow guided fate.

It was all very interesting, but Ketari didn't seem to actually believe in them. He questioned her about it once, and she shrugged. "I don't think they control fate. I don't think anything can. If praying and hoping could change fate then... I would have gotten my by now."

"You still don't have your wish?"

"Not yet."

"But what is it?"

She smiled at him and pulled his headband off his forehead and played with it, stretching it between her hands and looking at the reflection of her face in the metal. She looked back up at Kakashi and kissed his cheek, gently, nervously. "It's a secret. I can't tell you what it is until it happens." Kakashi looked disappointed and cocked his head.

"Why not?"

She shrugged and squirmed, a blush rising in her cheeks. "Just because. It's personal. I can't tell anyone until it happens... but... it's time for you to go." Kakashi's eyebrows raised and he looked at the sky again.

"Ah, yeah it is... how about that? Umm... tell you what. I'm going to take a few days off, and we'll go somewhere! Together."

"Really? Where?"

"I don't know, just anywhere you want to go!" he said, spreading his arms wide. He fell back onto the grass. "Isn't there just somewhere you've been dying to go, but you just have never been able to?" he asked, looking at her. She thought for a minute, her head tilted to the side.

"There is... somewhere," she said quietly, eyes slightly clouded. "But it's a sad place... and I don't... we shouldn't go somewhere sad." He raised himself onto his elbows and looked at her. "What kind of sad place?"

"Where... the Uchiha Clan... used to be." A tear rolled down her cheek and Kakashi sighed sympathetically, wiping the tear away with his thumb. "I understand... if you want to go, that's where we'll go. But why is it important to you?"

She sniffed and held his wrist in her hands. "It just is... I just... couldn't tell you how much it is... until my wish comes true," she smiled through her tears and Kakashi couldn't help but smile even through the lump rising in his throat. _Again with that wish... maybe..._

"Well, better pack your bags, because that where we'll go. Is tomorrow morning soon enough?"

"Yes. Are we going alone?"

"I think so. Unless you want to bring someone?"

"No no, I'm fine... tomorrow's fine. But just because our destination's unhappy... doesn't mean our trip there and back has to be! So... we'll try to have as much fun as we can before we get there, won't we?"

"Yes! I'd better get home and pack! Goodnight." She kissed his forehead and ran off down the hill with his leaf headband.


	4. Dreams

**The White Fang**

Halfway through the day, Kakashi and Ketari were en route to their destination: the remains of the Uchiha Clan. He had assembled his students and announced that he was going away for a few days to spend time with his girlfriend and that he would be back in about two weeks, and if they didn't like it, tough.

"And if you don't like it, tough. Go home and sleep, do whatever, eat ramen until your gut explodes. I'll be back in two weeks. Two. Weeks." He held up two fingers for emphasis and made sure that Naruto had eye contact with him. He straightened up and put his hands on his hips.

"Hey, Sensei?Where's your leaf headband?" Naruto asked, pointing at Kakashi's forehead. In the place of his leaf headband was what looked like a blue ribbon.

"This? I got it from my girlfriend, she has my headband. Now, do you guys understand what I just said?" They nodded. "Good, I think I got my point across. See ya!" He bounded back home and picked up his bag, then fairly skipped over to Ketari's house.

Ketari had been brushing out her hair and packing her clothes when she heard him knocking on her door. She knew it was him because he was whistling while he was doing it, and she remembered the tune as the one that he always used to whistle when she was around; her favorite tune. She smiled and checked herself in the mirror one more time before tying up her hair with a red ribbon. She came out with her own bag in hand and he took it from her, carrying his on his back and hers in his hand, and grinned through his mask. She giggled and pulled at the mask playfully, but he shooed her hand away.

"I'm not taking it off until we're well out of the village."

"But why?"

"It'll keep them guessing. It's entertainment for me."

"That's not fair... what's so bad about seeing your face?" She asked, trying to pull it off again.

"Nothing! You know what I look like anyway, so it doesn't matter. Right?" She nodded and gave up, but unwrapped the ribbon from around his head, ignoring his complaints. "Hey! What was that for?"

She smiled slyly at him and dangled the ribbon. "Well, you can't wear my ribbon until you take off that mask." He raised an eyebrow at her and she fluttered her eyes at him, a gesture that was more sarcastic in nature than flirtatious. He sighed.

"Fine. No ribbon until there's no mask. I got it. But it'll have to wait until we're out of here." She pouted and put her fists on her hips. She reached up and put her fingers at the edge of the mask, then gave Kakashi the look he could never resist.

"Please Kakashi? Just this once? Pleeeeeease?" she asked. He leaned his forehead against hers.

"Okay okay, you win. I'll take it off. But just this once!" he cautioned her. She pulled it down, kissed his cheek, and put her arms around his neck, nuzzling his face. He kissed her forehead and laughed. "Look at us! We haven't even gotten off your doorstep yet!" he said, letting her go. "We should start off or we'll never get there at all!" he took her hand and led her off to the gate of Konoha, trying to ignore the awed looks he got from the villagers. Women blushed and sighed, and he swallowed hard, trying to ignore them as well, and he got strange looks from the other Jounin. Perfect. It was just a good thing villagers and Jounin were few and far between this time of day. Most were on missions, lounging at home, in school, or just somewhere else.

"Can we stop by Gai's place on the way, Ketari?" he asked, and she looked up at him, still holding onto his arm.

"What for? I thought you'd want to avoid him since you don't have your mask on and you don't want him crowing about you for the rest of your life."

"Yeah well... I thought I'd just say good-bye, you know? Plus I have to ask him a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"I uh..." he sweatdropped. "I need to ask him to feed and walk Pakkun. I said I'd walk Pakkun since I owe Pakkun, but I don't really have the time and... well. Gai likes Pakkun. And I need to ask..." he looked at her quickly and reddened. "It's a man thing. Very private."

She squinted her eyes at him, as if trying to read his thoughts, but shrugged. "Okay. Kakashi?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember... during our Chuunin exam...?"

"Of course I remember our Chuunin exam!"

* * *

_"And the last match for the second part of the Chuunin exam today is..."_

_The screen flashed above Kakashi's head and Yondaime crossed his arms, a bit ofa frown on his face._

_"Kakashi versus Ketari! Step down to the arena please." Kakashi froze in his spot between Rin and Obito and stared up at the screen. Him versus Ketari? But but... she was a girl! And and and... oh... damn. Rin looked at him strangely. _

_"What' s up with you, Kakashi? It's not like Ketari's super strong or anything, I mean, she's actually pretty weak. You're sweating bullets over there."_

_Ketari, meanwhile, was making her way slowly down to the arena after being wished goodluck by her teammates, Iruka and Hayate. She was shaking as she did so, her small hands guiding her down the steps to the arena. Kakashi shook his head and looked up quickly at Yondaime. Yondaime knew what his problem was. _

_Yondaime shook his head sadly. There was nothing he could do about this matchup._

_Kakashi gritted his teeth under his mask and swung down into the arena, standing as far away from Ketari as was possible. What could he do? He didn't want to fight her... the only thing he could do was... to scare the supervisors enough that they would stop the fight immediately, that or forfeit... and he couldn't forfeit! Not here! He had to become a Chuunin, if he did, he would be the youngest Chuunin... ever! And he knew just what he'd use to scare the supervisors, to scare Yondaime into stopping the fight._

_The bell rang and Ketari didn't move, but stood almost frozen as Kakashi watched her and prepared his body for that technique._

_His secret technique, Chidori, reimei! He looked into her eyes as the electricity arced over the arena._

_"I'm sorry, Ketari," he mouthed, and he charged. Everything was a blur, he couldn't see, couldn't hear very much, but he could see the unmoving blue kunoichi dress, saw it as it sank to the floor. Tiles tore away from the ground as his feet pounded against the ground, as the electricity ripped it up and away from its foundations. Why wasn't she moving, why wasn't she running away? RUN! RUN! GET AWAY FROM ME! RUUUUN! His feet slammed to a screeching halt and he stopped skidding right before his hand collided with Ketari's head. He groaned and turned around, slamming the Chidori into the floor, and watched as the tiles flew and the energy pounded through the ground beneath it. His face whitened. What if he hadn't stopped in time? What would have happened to...? _

_Yondaime stood up; this match had to be disqualified, the jutsu being used was too strong, too powerful, too dangerous to be used against another Genin._

_On both sides._

_He turned and saw Ketari staring wide-eyed at the hole in the floor, and her eyes made a slow track to Kakashi. She seemed awed, but not afraid, like she had known that he would stop, and Kakashi saw Yondaime in the arena next to him, his hand on his head. "I'm sorry, Kakashi... but this match cannot be continued. It seems that both of you will have to be dis-"_

_"I forfeit."_

_Kakashi started and turned under Yondaime's hand, the words taken from his mouth. He saw Ketari staring at her clasped hands, her white ribbon in her hands. _

_"I forfeit."_

_Yondaime stood and Kakashi felthim apply pressure to his head, like he was turning over something in his mind. _

_"Then Kakashi is the winner. Kakashi, you're going to the next round." Yondaime went back to his seat and Kakashi stared at Ketari._

_"Ketari... why did you-" she smiled and held out her white ribbon. _

_"I thought... maybe right now, your dream is more important than mine."_

_"But your dream..."_

_"Will come true eventually. Yours has to come true right now, doesn't it?"_

_"But..."_

_"To become the best medical kunoichi... my dream can wait. You have to be... you want to live up to your dad, don't you?" she cried.Kakashi bowed his head. That was it. He had condemned her to wait another whole year before her dream would ever come true... _

_"But didn't you want to live up to your mom's reputation, Ketari...?"_

_"Yes... but... I'll be... fine!" She put her hands to the ground and discharged the chakra she had been building up into them, and the section of the arena behind Kakashi exploded into dust. "Now you have to catch your dream!" She said, holding out the ribbon to him._

* * *

"I would never have seen that coming. You could have blown me apart." 

"You could have as well... that Chidori of yours... I was so scared I could barely summon my chakra to my hand." Kakashi looked over at her and shifted his pack on his shoulder as they neared the edge of the gate.

"What, the Chidori? It's nothing frightening... unless you mean the speed of it. That technique that you used though... that was frightening. How did you do it?"

She giggled and put a hand over her mouth. "Oh I couldn't tell you that. Only my mother and I can do it!"

"Really...?"

"Yep. But..." she looked downcast. "She left when I was little, and my dad died before I was born."

"My God... she must have been strong. I'd like to see your mother someday."

"I would too, Kakashi, I would too..."

"You know what your dad's name was?"

"... No idea.."

"What about her name?"

"I can't remember. I was too little, I guess."

"Didn't you say your parents arranged your marriage to Obito?" It still stung him a bit to think of how close Ketari had been to marrying Obito instead of... he shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking that way of Obito, shouldn't be thinking that he was glad Obito was dead. No, he couldn't think like that.

"I was adopted, silly... think with that so-called 'genius' mind of yours," she said, poking him in the head. He rubbed the spot where she poked him.

"Ah hey! My father was the genius, not me."

"And modest too."

"It's true... he came up with so many jutsus on his own while I..." he studied his hand. "I've only got one: the Chidori."

She was quiet and walked along side him for a while, studying her fingers as well. "You never had many friends, did you?" she asked quietly.

"No. How could you tell?"

"You're always... were always... shy, and you really don't like interacting with other people. You'd much rather fail all your students and bury your nose in a book. Why is that?"

"Why? You're asking me why? That's... a tough one." He thought for a while to himself, studying the cloud of dust that his feet kicked up. "Well... I guess it was because I was so young when I was a Genin. There were kids in the Academy my age, and I was already a Genin, and by the time they were Genin, I was a Chuunin. Except for a couple of people like you, Iruka... just a few."

"We were pushed up because they couldn't have a three man team with twosixteen year olds and a ten year old Chuunin."

"I always wondered why... you didn't look like you wanted to be in that exam. You were even younger than me!"

"And five times less experienced. I was scared out of my mind. Once we failed that exam, we retook it way later and passed it. You were a Jounin by then, I think."

"Yep... but... I was always lonely... didn't have anyone my own age who would accept me, no family at home, even the adults would look at me strangely. Except Yondaime-Sensei... he was the only one... and Obito, in the end. Even though he was a bit older than me. And you, of course, always you.

"And... when Obito died... I couldn't stand the students that had no value for teamwork, no value for the lives of their comrades. So until my 'special three' now, it's been a rough ride. For them, not me. I've had smooth sailing for a couple of years now, heh, more than a couple of years.

"Well, it looks like we're here, Ketari... anything in particular you want to...?"

She stood there awkwardly for a while in front of the great symbol of the Uchiha, stared at the forbidding yellow guard tape strewn around the entrance. She turned her head a little, her face masked by her long dark hair, and said, "I'll... be back in a little while. Maybe you should plan something else? We still have an entire week to go.

* * *

And so it was that Kakashi Hatakereserved a room in a nearby hotel-ish location and was left to play Janken with his summoned dog, Tohru, who was losing miserably.

"Aw, that's not fair. All I can do is paper and rock!"

"Yeah, well tough," Kakashi mumbled into his hand, taking a chance with scissors and winning over Tohru's paper once more. "I wish she'd hurry up and come back," he said, straightening out the pillow under his elbow. His arm was on the pillow, his chin propped in his hand, lying stomach down on hard-wood floor. He hadn't moved from that spot on the floor since he'd gotten the room and thrown himself there. After getting bored of counting the tiles on the ceiling, the planks of wood on the floor, and the number of stitches in the pillow, he had summoned Tohru to play Janken, which was amusing if not terribly time consuming.

"Please, just one more round, Tohru?" Kakashi whined, and Tohru woofed a miserable consent. One more round of horrendous Janken torture. Kakashi won paper over rock and rolled onto his back, blowing his hair out of his eyes and stroking Tohru's fur with one hand.

"What's up with you then, Boss?"

"Ahhh... Ketari went to the Uchiha Clan Grounds, hasn't come back for a good three hours. I'm just lonely."

"But I thought you never get lonely, Boss?"

"This is different, Tohru!" Kakashi exclaimed, turning over onto his stomach again and looking Tohru in his little Shiba eyes. "This is _Female Companionship! _This isn't like comrade friendship. What do you do when you see a nice looking she-dog, eh?"

"Oh, that all depends," Tohru said slyly, scratching a spot on his back with a hind paw. "If she's a nice Shiba, I say hello, y'know, be friends, and go from there. Haven't found a particularly _friendly or companion-y _one yet, but I'm sure I will." He studied the paw that had been scratching and licked it momentarily.

"But Boss, I still don't understand your kind. Why not just reproduce already?"

"WHAT!" Kakashi yelped. "Reproduce? Have babies? NOW? No way! I-I'm too young for that kind of thing! Or at least, I haven't been dating Ketari long enough! I haven't asked her if she wants to have babies, I haven't even asked if she wants to get _married! _And what if things don't work out? I can't have babies now!"

Tohru winked at him and wagged his tail. "Just testin' Boss, just testin'. "

"Oh... oh... I thought you were serious about the whole... reproduction thing... oh.. my God... don't scare me like that again, Tohru!" Kakashi said, pointing an accusing finger at him.

Ketari leaned away from the door and sighed sadly. She guessed he didn't want any kids...

There went dream #1.


	5. Fangly Babies

**The White Fang**

Kakashi sat up from off the floor as Ketari came in and sat on the bed rather dejectedly.

"Well... what's up?" Kakashi asked, petting Tohru. The poor pup needed some consolation after losing sixty-one straight Janken matches.

"Ketari?"

"I'm fine... Just tired," she said, giving hima smile. Kakashi wasn't, however, entirely convinced. He scrutinized her, but shrugged and petted Tohru some more, making sure to scratch behind his ears.

"Kakashi?"

"Have you... ever wanted to have children?"

Kakashi sighed and thought for a while, his hands moving to scratch Tohru's belly while his thoughts moved to Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, his beloved students. "I suppose so... I never really thought about it that much, but when I was little... Dad used to talk to me all the time about having grandkids, even though I was so young... And I used to promise him that I'd have kids someday just so he'd shut up about it for five minutes, but now I wish I hadn't. I just should have let him talk on forever, I wouldn't mind a bit now.

"But yeah, I've thought about it, a little. I never really had time to... umm..." he was suddenly at a loss for words, just right out of the blue his head emptied completely. He had nothing else to say. "But what about you?"

"I always wanted to have kids... because I was always so lonely, and I wanted to have a family that I could take care of, a family that needed me and a family that I would never... die out on. The only friends I had were Iruka and Hayate... and they were my teammates... and you... but... Rin liked you, she told me she did."

"WHAT?"

"Umm..."

"But she- but I- but-but-but! She told _me _that she liked Obito, well, I mean, she didn't _tell _me per se, but it looked like it and-and-and-... She liked _me?" _Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. "Now that's just not fair. She didn't even tell me, and I thought she liked Obito. Obito liked her, and I even told her he liked her, but... haaaaa..." he exhaled and put his hands on his knees. "Oh well... I haven't seen Rin in... what? Thirteen years just about. It doesn't matter anymore, and besides," he looked up at Ketari slyly.

"I love you, not her," he said.

The three birds in the tree next to the window chose this time to drop out of the tree and hit the ground with a rather loud thud, which caught the attention of one of Kakashi's ever-playful Summoned pups. The pup wagged it's tail, mouth open, tongue lolling, and pounced.

The birds screeched, got up on their legs, and commenced to run as the pup bounded after them, yipping and barking. Kakashi was too busy to see what the trouble was, however, and when the birds went to see why he was too busy they screeched and fell again, this time off the windowsill.

Fortunately for the birds, they were only kissing, unfortunately for the birds, it was enough to make them fall over again. The yellow bird looked at the pink one and squawked, while the black bird simply ruffled it's feathers and tried to maintain whatever dignity he had left as the pup, Kaiko, came back to play Chase-the-Birds round 3.

Kakashi pulled up his mask again and the birds sighed. They still couldn't see his face, not even when he was kissing! He had faced the other way. Meanwhile, Kaiko was playfully batting around the black bird in between his paws, yipping with delight. The bird spun in midair and it's eyes turned red, mimicking the batting movement of the pup's paws. Swiping Bird Wings of Mimicked Puppy Death was not very effective against a puppy that was possibly ten times his size, and Kaiko simply bent down, seized the bird in his mouth, and trotted away.The pink and yellow birds were oblivious to the whole scene, opting instead to watch the scene within the window as long as it didn't 'escalate out of hand'.

Kakashi got up from the bed and stretched. "Anywhere in particular you want to go? We have a whole two weeks left, just about."

"I thought you said you needed to visit Gai?"

"Yeah, I can do that later," he said, waving it off. He gave her a disarming grin and she frowned at him.

"Sometimes you're very weird..." Kakashi's face collapsed.

"Weird...?"

"Not in a ... very bad way."

"Oh, okay. That's good enough for me."

"And one more thing... I heard that you like to hang around The Pink Bookstore." He kept his face straight but his insides were squirming. _She knows! Agh! What'll I do, what'll I do? What if she doesn't like me reading those books and leaves me? Would she leave me for reading those books, or does she love me enough to stay with me even if I do? Or or or... AAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!_

"What's wrong with you? You're sweating bullets."

"OH, ah ahhhh... NOTHING." _Breathe, Kakashi, breathe!_

"Does this have something to do with that bookstore?"

"OF COURSE NOT."

"Liar liar mask on fire," she pouted, sticking her tongue out at him. She crossed her arms and walked over to the windowsill, removing the sodden black bird from the puppy's mouth and letting it go. "So, family man, what would you do if you had kids?"

Now it was Kakashi's turn to cross his arms over his chest. "Iunno, I told you I never thought about it. Didn't even have younger siblings or anything, I don't know how to handle kids. I guess uh... I don't know, I like little babies," he shrugged. "They're so tiny and adorable, especially when you poke them and they laugh at you. But sometimes they cry at you too, and that's not so fun. And they vomit, and poop, and vomit, and soil their diapers, and vomit, and... sleep.. vomit."

" 'Sleep vomit'."

"Yes, they sleep vomit!"

"Really," she said disbelievingly.

"Well if they vomit everywhere else then they MUST vomit when they're asleep."

Ketari shook her head and pushed Kakashi off the bed. "And this is coming from the so-called 'Genius' ninja of Konoha. Sleep vomit... honestly." Kakashi gave her a perplexed look from the edge of the bed. "What? Don't expect me to let you get in the same bed as me." His eyebrows knitted together and he gave her his best pouting face. She sighed. "Fine. You stay on that side and no wandering hands or you'll find that more than your hands are gone, believe me."

Tohru woofed a laugh. "No reproducing boss."

"Shut up Tohru."


End file.
